Tom Hanks plays Fred Rogers, who from 1968-2001, appeared almost daily on the TV screen of millions of children and their parents and their parents parents. While Tom Hanks doesn't become Mr. Rogers, there are moments when you can see good ole Fred popping up in the Forrest Gump star's demeanor or accent.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was inspired by Tom Junod's 1998 Esquire article titled 'Can You Say...Hero?' In the film, Junod's character, now referred to as journalist Lloyd Vogel, is self-destructing. A new father, his own troubled relationship with his father has left the writer scarred and angry. Hoping to give him a new perspective, his editor assigns Vogel (Matthew Rhys) to interview Fred Rogers. But when Vogel meets Rogers and finds him almost exactly like his on screen persona, the writer becomes suspicious.
As Lloyd Vogel digs deeper into just who Mister Rogers really is, the journalist must learn just who he is. And that will mean facing a childhood of hurt and pain. Hopefully, in the end, maybe a little bit of Fred Rogers will rub off on Lloyd Vogel, making him into the husband and father he longs to be.
This 2019 film is framed like an episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood. From the iconic miniatures opening of the show to the 'Won't You Be My Neighbor? theme'. We get appearances by Mr. McFeely, learn how a magazine is made thanks to Picture-Picture and take a trolley ride to Make Believe Land. Throughout this missing episode, Mister Rogers talks to his neighbors about anger and how it is affecting Lloyd Vogel's life!
Oh NO! Mister Rogers didn't feed his fish!
The film really did feel like a lost episode. The original cameras and some parts of the set, including King Friday and Daniel are re-used to give Tom Hanks' version of Mister Rogers Neighborhood an as near as possible authentic feel. Yes, trying to keep things as much as things would be on the series made for some oddly trippy scenes. But by the end of this film, I was okay if Tom Hanks and PBS decided to reboot Mister Rogers Neighborhood with some new episodes. Just leave Lloyd Vogel out of it. I felt like this movie was focused too much on him and his family problems and not enough of showing us Fred Rogers.
Mister Rogers is a lot like painter Bob Ross. He's just so innocent and pure and super chill. It's a complete 180 turn from the chaos of modern day. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood does a wonderful job bringing back such more innocent times. I just hate that it's marred by trying to show how people find solace or even themselves in Mister Rogers. My wife thought that made for a better movie. I felt that that part in which people found answers in Mister Rogers, that part is a given. I wanted to see the unknown Fred Rogers. We get some glimpses. But what I really wanted to know was if Mister Rogers started out in the Army as a sniper and or a Navy SEAL!
That's been part of Mister Rogers' mystique and a long-time urban legend. Ultimately, considering how bizarre things get in the movie, it was a part of neighborhood lore that could've been explored in the movie. Having Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers, killing Nazis on screen. That could've been filmed for this movie.
Ultimately, I think we all wanted to see that!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7
out of 10 stars.
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